


princes and fools, lovers and kings

by siderealOtaku



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: First Dance, First Date, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Sibling Bonding, Siblings, and the siblings being good siblings, even takumi and leo although they're grumpybutts, ryoma and xander being awkward boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 06:32:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13758300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siderealOtaku/pseuds/siderealOtaku
Summary: Ruling two nations and brokering a peace doesn't leave much time for all the usual firsts that come with falling in love. Still, Ryoma and Xander's siblings find ways to make it happen.





	princes and fools, lovers and kings

**Author's Note:**

> this ship always needs more fluff ok. and i love all the royal siblings so i wanted something that included all of them. some of them were harder to write and i feel like they might not all have been perfectly in character but i hope you enjoy this anyway.

**i. meet cute**

Hinoka knows she is not the sort of person anyone would choose for a diplomatic role – nor, frankly, does she want to be. So when the necessity of assigning someone to watch duty for the official treaty signing is brought up, her hand is the first one in the air. 

What this ends up meaning is that Hinoka is the first one to see the Nohrian party arriving. From her place in the sky, she’s somewhat surprised to see the figure of a single mounted rider practically racing along the imperial highway, far in advance of the slow-moving cloud of dust indicating the main bulk of the royal train. 

As if sensing the first princess’s confusion, her pegasus swoops lower, his rider twisting her body with practiced ease even as the majestic white creature’s dive orients it nearly perpendicular to the ground. Hinoka’s sharp eyes pick out blonde hair, black armor, the glint of sunlight off something which can only be a crown. 

The figure is no scout or outrider, but the King of Nohr himself. 

She watches him pause at the gates, reach one gauntleted hand up to wipe sweat from his brow. His horse, barely winded, whinny-huffs loudly, regaining her rider’s attention. This almost startles a laugh out of the stoic princess – it’s the same noise of satisfied affection her own mount makes on those rare occasions she’s able to break away from her endless duties to let him stretch his wings. 

The King of Nohr, still unaware that he is observed, bends down and ruffles his mount’s mane affectionately, a smile slowly beginning to trace his usually stoic features. He whispers something into the great war-mare’s ear, too quiet for the airborne princess to hear. The horse makes that laugh-like sound again, and Hinoka makes a decision. 

She hovers just above the palace gate, allowing the noise of her pegasus’s wings to alert the blonde royal rather than addressing him directly. He forgoes formality, asking her cordially but plainly where he is expected to go first. (He doesn’t offer any sort of explanation for why he’s arrived so far ahead of his siblings and retainers. Perhaps he understands that she doesn’t need one.) 

Hinoka knows that she is supposed to tell him to go to the great hall, where he will be plied with too-sweet ceremonial sake, where every noble in the kingdom will bow and scrape to him, where Yukimura will drone on endlessly about the finer points of the already finalized treaty of alliance. She’s not sure if it’s the smile on his face or the contented, sleepy look on his mount’s that convinces her to do otherwise. 

Wordlessly, she gestures with her naginata to his left, her right – the entrance to the vast, sprawling palace gardens. She follows, behind and above, not speaking, merely observing as a servant arrives to take the tired mare to the stables. Neither the King of Nohr nor the Princess of Hoshido acknowledge each other further as the former strolls along crushed-stone paths between cherry trees and maples and elegantly shaped bamboo, his step sure as though he somehow knows exactly where he is meant to end up. 

Hinoka’s elder brother is on his knees tending to a newly planted patch of sunflowers – a Nohrian transplant, gifted to Sakura by Elise at the last midwinter celebration. His armor is off, the great red battle plate cast almost casually aside, leaving only a simple white kimono now thoroughly stained by the dirt of the garden. His hair is pulled up into a single, massive ponytail with a red ribbon, a style he constantly refuses to acknowledge suits him. The sunlit length of the divine katana is propped up against the trunk of a cherry tree, a smear of dirt along the crackling blade hinting that the churned soil of the sunflower patch might not have been the work of the King of Hoshido’s hands alone. 

When he stands to greet the King of Nohr, the smile on his face is as open and unguarded as that of his counterpart and new ally. 

“Um,” the blonde royal says, dark eyes unsubtly studying the Hoshidan’s simple kimono and tamed, sweat-slick ponytail. “Hi.” 

There’s a pause. Hinoka’s brother looks down at the sunflower patch, as though the flowers will somehow whisper to him the proper words of greeting. 

“Hi yourself,” he finally says, his own gaze never once leaving the smile that softens the usually stone-cut set of the Nohrian’s jaw. “It’s…good to see you.” 

“Y-yeah.” Aloft as she is, the first princess of Hoshido can barely catch the slight stutter in the Nohrian royal’s usually composed voice. “Really good. I mean. To see you. Too.” 

“W-we have a little time, before the ceremony starts. Would you….would you like to help me finish watering these?” She is, however, more than close enough to see her brother’s callused fingers twine his red hair ribbon between them as he asks that question. 

“Yeah. Uh. I mean yes. Yes, I’d like that. A lot.” 

Later, in the grand hall of the castle, they will greet one another with endless formalities, an insufferable proceeding which will take nearly ten minutes and bore everyone in the audience (except perhaps Yukimura) to tears. 

It makes Hinoka all the more grateful that she was the only one to witness the _true_ greeting between the two men, awkward and pure and raw and heavy with something that, if pressed to put a name to, she might call _potential._

**ii. first dance**

Most people assumed that Elise’s oldest brother had taught her to dance. These assumptions would be entirely wrong – it had been the other way around. 

The recently crowned king had always been that perfect combination of too shy and too stiff and too afraid of embarrassing his father to dance at any court functions. (Not that Nohr had had many, in those dark days after Corrin joined their family.) But free-spirited Elise had practically been twirling and jumping and leaping before she was walking, and her tall and princely brother had been the perfect partner to accompany her to the endless balls and soirees she hosted in her childhood playroom. 

So it didn’t exactly _surprise_ the King of Nohr when his strong, long-fingered hand was grasped in a much smaller one and he was pulled out onto the dance floor by the grinning, whirling figure of his youngest sister. Neither Elise nor her brother knew the dance – something Cyrkensian composed mostly of stomping and clapping with a good bit of spinning mixed in – but their stumbling tries left the young princess breathless with laughter, so the usually stoic king considered their efforts a success. 

They’d managed to muddle through about three songs when Azura, ineffectively concealing a fit of giggles behind one delicate hand, tapped Elise on the shoulder and offered to teach her the actual steps. The young Nohrian princess pouted, pointing out that she’d love to but wouldn’t that leave her brother without a dance partner. The king demurred, insisting it would be fine…and then somehow, as if by that strange magic she wielded as easily as breathing, Azura was linking his hand with the King of Hoshido’s and sending them off with a gentle but insistent shove on both their backs into the swirl of dancing couples. 

“I don’t know this one,” said the King in the crimson kimono. 

“Neither do I,” admitted his black-suit-clad counterpart. 

“I think it starts like this….?” They stepped forward simultaneously, causing the Hoshidan’s sandaled food to land solidly on top of the Nohrian’s booted one. 

“Oh, by the Dawn Dragons, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” the brunette stammered. 

“It’s alright,” responded the blonde gallantly. A laugh bubbled up from his chest at the sight of his fellow king’s face, now as red as his usual armor. “We’ll learn. Together. Eventually. Somehow.” 

“Does that mean I can still have this dance, even though I just stepped on your foot?” 

“Only if afterwards you tell me which brand of sake is the best. I’ll admit I neglected reading up on the different flavors before making this journey.” 

“Deal,” said the King of Hoshido, and with a small but sincere bow, led his partner back onto the dance floor. 

**iii. first date**

Takumi had not wanted to come along to the Nohrian version of the treaty-signing ceremony. Sure, the two countries were allies now, but did that mean he had to _like_ anything about Nohr? Sure, the food was pretty good, and dark magic looked way cooler than anything the Hoshidan diviners were capable of doing, and he wanted to learn more about the festivals that the Ice Tribe apparently held entirely on top of frozen lakes…

…okay, maybe the younger Hoshidan prince was a _little_ bit excited, after all. But he made it very clear to his elder brother that he was only coming along because he wanted to go to an Ice Tribe festival, and if they didn’t get to go, he would sulk for an entire month. At least. 

He’d gotten his wish, but for some reason his brother had insisted on coming along, stating something about “not trusting Takumi around Nohrians yet,” and somehow the stars aligned so that the only one of the Nohrian siblings available to act as their guide was, of course, the king himself. 

Which meant that Takumi got to spend the whole time watching them awkwardly blush at each other and stumble over compliments about each other’s winter wear and somehow manage to share an entire roasted ear of corn on a stick despite the little accidental gasps they made each time their fingers brushed against one another as they passed the snack back and forth. He would have said something about how they just needed to _admit it_ already, but he was at least sensible enough to be utterly terrified of what Camilla would do to him once they got back to the castle if she found out he had taken that sort of rash action. 

So he grumbled under his breath to nobody in particular. He used more than his fair share of the money his brother had allocated for their daily spending to sample practically everything the stalls had to offer. (It served the Hoshidan King right, Takumi decided, considering it took the two not-yet-lovebirds practically an entire hour to finish that single ear of corn between them.) He let a merchant give him the entire sales pitch about ice-tipped arrows he had no use for just so he didn’t have to listen to Xander stumble over his words as he desperately explained the history of the festival to Ryoma for the third time that day in an attempt to avoid any more serious topics of discussion. 

“I don’t think your brother is enjoying this. Am I doing something wrong?” Xander’s shoulders slumped as he watched Takumi trail behind them, making audible huffs of annoyance practically every few seconds. 

Ryoma’s brow furrowed as he frowned. “I’m sure he is….he wouldn’t shut up about coming to this festival since we started planning this trip. I think he’s just lonely. Takumi has never been that good at admitting his feelings.” 

“I do wish Elise or Leo had been able to come along. Maybe he would have had more fun if we made it a double date.” 

Ryoma’s eyebrows shot up so far they practically buried themselves in his unruly, currently ice-tipped mane of hair. “Is this a date, then?” His voice when he asked the question was so quiet and stammering and utterly unlike himself that it made Xander blush simply from how _cute_ his counterpart was being. 

“I-if you would like it to be, I suppose it could be.” Xander reached one black-gloved hand towards his fellow king, noticing that the other man’s Hoshidan hand wraps left his fingers exposed to the elements. 

Slowly, tenderly, Ryoma took Xander’s hand in his own. “Yes. I’d like that very much.” 

Still trailing behind them, Takumi rolled his eyes as he desperately thought up a way to convince Camilla that he hadn’t been responsible for this new development. 

**iv. first kiss**

For the powerful, skilled, supposedly intelligent rulers of two entire kingdoms, Ryoma and Xander were absolutely terrible at hiding their relationship from any of their siblings. Even Leo, who wouldn’t consider himself the most emotionally aware individual on the best of days, had figured out that their constant trips around the countryside for “cultural experiences” were actually just dates. 

As the second Nohrian prince strode towards the library of Castle Shirasagi, a stack of scrolls tucked under his right arm, he mused that he was at least grateful things didn’t seem to have progressed beyond shy hand-holding and day trip dates. He had to deal with enough of that having Niles as a retainer – he didn’t need it from _Xander_ of all people too. 

Of course, he had never had the “devil’s luck” that his dear sister Corrin enjoyed, for what should he encounter outside the library door but a pair of divine swords in their sheaths, one flirt engaged in a monologue about some date he’d had with a local village girl recently, and one very irritated-looking Hoshidan ninja. 

The second to last thing Leo wanted was to have to spend another moment watching the two kings make bedroom eyes at each other, but the last thing he wanted was to have to endure another lecture from that bespectacled tactician about not returning the borrowed scrolls and re-shelving them properly before his return to Nohr the next day. And Odin and Nile were off somewhere doing dragons-knew-what – probably something far worse than merely blushing and flirting at one another – and neither Saizo nor Laslow was the kind of person he could trust to do the re-shelving for him. 

So it fell upon poor Leo to open the door to the library and try to draw as little attention to himself as possible as his quickly returned the scrolls on Hoshidan history and magic techniques to their proper places. 

Of course, his stealth was unnecessary – the two occupants of the room were completely and utterly lost in each other’s eyes. The map of the border kingdoms spread out on the table between them was clearly no more than an excuse to spend the last afternoon before they temporarily parted together instead of hearing endless grievances from a string of boring diplomats. 

Leo tried his hardest not to overhear what they were saying but, given that they were in an otherwise totally empty library, such a task proved utterly impossible. 

“Saying goodbye to you gets harder every time,” Ryoma admitted, squeezing Xander’s gloved hand. 

“You’re coming to Nohr for the Spring Festival, aren’t you? Elise has been having matching costumes made for herself and Sakura, and Azura said something about performing a brand new routine.” 

“That’s still a month away,” the King of one of the world’s two most powerful nations practically _pouted._

“Well….” Xander let the word hang in the dusty air, gathering the courage to finish what he had started. “I could think of a way to make the wait at least a little more bearable.” 

Leo’s cheeks reddened as he shoved the third-to-last scroll onto its designated shelf. None of his sisters were _ever_ going to let him live this down. 

“Oh?” Ryoma murmured, taking Xander’s other hand in his own and leaning closer as though he knew what was coming next. 

“Yeah,” Xander whispered, slowly leaning in. 

The two kings’ eyes fluttered shut as their lips met for the first time. Ryoma’s left hand rested on Xander’s waist; the Nohrian’s right hand tangled itself in the Hoshidan’s magnificent hair. It was sweet, gentle, full of love no longer hidden, no longer forcibly suppressed by ancient rivalries or bitter wars. 

Vaguely nauseous, Leo squeezed his eyes shut and tried his best to imagine himself alone in a room full of tomatoes. 

(Still, when he left, he did make sure to inform the flirt and the ninja that the two kings were to remain undisturbed until night, and that any matters of national security should be directed to himself instead.) 

**v. proposal**

Corrin clutched her elder sister’s arm as she stared wide-eyed at the bustling spring market. Her long years of confinement had never allowed her to experience the Spring Festival as anything more than a faraway blur of activity viewed from her window. Now, experiencing it in person, the formerly captive princess was amazed. She had never seen Nohr so colorful. 

Usually Camilla loved shopping and festivals, so this should be the perfect sort of event for her, but Corrin couldn’t help noticing that her sister seemed distracted and not entirely there. Her eyes kept flitting from stall to stall, as though looking for something. Or someone. 

When the wyvern-riding princess found her target, she practically pulled Corrin’s arm out of her socket as she dragged the younger woman behind her at a frantic pace. Blinking wind-induced tears from her eyes, Corrin was finally able to catch a glimpse of who it was Camilla had been looking for: the King of Hoshido, dressed for the occasion in a stunning golden yukata, an Elise-crafted crown of flowers perched delicately atop his spiky mane. 

Camilla let go of Corrin’s arm as she approached Ryoma. The princess of three nations stayed where she was, not entirely sure what was going on. Obviously Camilla was up to something – as she usually was – but the white-haired woman had no idea what it could be. 

And then Corrin’s ruby-red eyes fell upon the stall that Ryoma had been perusing, and she understood. 

It was the stall of a jewelry-seller. Specifically, a ring-maker. Rings glittered in the early spring sunlight – gold and silver, obsidian and copper, glittering with jewels in the red of her own eyes, the blue of the sky, the green of the grass and even the purple of her sister’s hair. 

Ryoma was holding a black ring with a purple stone in his hands, turning it over and over, examining it from all angles. The seller, a lanky wolfskin in a smith’s apron, didn’t say a word, seemingly stunned into silence that a King was expressing interest in his wares. 

Wordlessly, Camilla plucked the ring from Ryoma’s hands and set it back in the display case. The jeweler’s bushy tail drooped, but perked up immediately when the eldest princess of Nohr handed him several gold coins while murmuring something about ‘for his troubles’. 

Corrin watched as her Nohrian sister placed something else into her Hoshidan brother’s hands – something with a gold band and a large setting prominently featuring two gems, one deep ruby and the other majestic amethyst. 

Before Ryoma could ask her what it was, Camilla placed both of her elegant hands on his strong shoulders. She spun his body around just in time to see the approach of Xander, magnificently if slightly ridiculously bedecked in a traditional festival outfit complete with a bunny-eared top hat. 

The Malig Knight stepped back, once again clutching Corrin’s hand in her own. The younger princess opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but Camilla merely pressed a finger against her lips and motioned for her to stay quiet. 

“Ryoma, what-“ Xander started, but the Hoshidan King did not let him continue. 

“I have something to ask you,” he said simply, then dropped to one knee. 

Xander gasped. Camilla smiled, her look nothing but conspiratorial. Corrin felt tears gathering at the corners of her eyes as she realized just what was happening. 

“For most of my life, I thought you were my enemy – thought that that was all you would ever be. But I’d be lying to myself if I said that once we became allies, I didn’t pretty much immediately hope for the chance at something more. I know it won’t be easy. We’re kings. We’re warriors. Our duties are to our countries, and to this peace that we helped create. Our love story has never been normal, and it’s never _going_ to be, but…I’m okay with that, as long as you’re there to live every moment of it with me. I guess what I’m asking….Xander, will you marry me?” 

Tears streaked the Nohrian King’s face as he nodded, allowing Ryoma to slip the ring onto the fourth finger of his left hand. Corrin realized that she had never seen her brother cry before, and was immediately thrilled that the first time she did, they were not tears of sorrow but rather of extreme, unmatchable joy. 

“Ryoma, I…oh!” For the first time, Xander seemed to process exactly what the ring he was now wearing looked like. “My…my mother’s ring. But….how….” 

Wordlessly, Ryoma pointed at the purple-haired princess standing behind him. Xander didn’t look anything but overjoyed, but Corrin was pretty sure he wouldn’t have looked surprised even if this hadn’t been the happiest moment of his life. Her sister always did have a way of helping things – and people – find their way home. 

“Yes, Ryoma, yes, I’ll marry you, _yes_!” The blonde pulled his brunette fiancé to his feet, his ring blazing in the sunlight as he did so. 

Corrin found herself so thrilled at what had just occurred that she didn’t even mind _that_ much that Camilla put her hands over her eyes just as Ryoma and Xander were leaning in for their first kiss as an engaged pair. 

**vi. first night**

As such events tended to do, the banquet and ball following the royal wedding stretched late into the night. Despite her usual shyness, Sakura was having the time of her life. She’d danced with every single one of her siblings – Hoshidan and Nohrian both – then her retainers, then Elise’s retainers, then Elise again, then all three of Corrin’s personal servants, then Elise a third time, and even with Yukimura and that funny archduke from Izumo. 

She was letting herself be twirled around the dance floor by Hayato of the Wind Tribe – a poor dancer, but enthusiastic and determined enough to make up for it – when she caught a glimpse of the new royal couple being thwarted in their attempts to sneak out the door. 

It was obvious that newlywed excitement was beginning to overtake royal propriety – Xander’s cravat was undone, Ryoma’s obi had begun to come loose, and Oboro’s painstaking, hours-long attempts at styling both men’s hair had unfortunately gone totally to waste. However, they had been caught in their attempt to slip through a servant’s entrance by Jakob, and the prickly butler seemed not to care that both men were his sworn lieges as he launched into a tirade about duty and decency. 

Sakura had already picked out a wedding present for the couple, a small cutting from her namesake tree which she had used her magic to form into the shape of a heart, but she was suddenly struck with an idea of something else she could give them. Excusing herself from Hayato by pointing out that Felicia was currently without a dance partner, the youngest Hoshidan princess headed towards the corner of the ballroom where Jakob was still lambasting her brothers for their “improper” behavior. 

The kimono which Oboro had designed for the occasion was far longer and fancier than anything Sakura usually wore, so it was not too difficult to pretend to trip at just the right moment. Her shoulder collided with Jakob’s and the butler, too caught up in his lecture to catch himself in time, tipped forward and spilled his entire tray of glasses filled with bright red wine across the front of Xander’s pristine white shirt. 

For a moment, Sakura’s eldest brother stood dumbstruck, not reacting to the opportunity which had presented itself. The young princess nudged and winked at her brother, tilting her head in the direction of the now wine-soaked King of Nohr. 

“O-oh, we’d best go….get that cleaned up,” Ryoma stammered. 

“C-can’t go back to the dance floor…like…this…” Xander agreed, his face now as red as the stains on his shirt. 

Leaving the two men to slip out unimpeded (and Jakob to spend the rest of the night cleaning up spilled wine,) the young princess hummed a tune to herself as she sought out Elise. Her bold act had left her filled to the brim with nervous energy, and she was pretty sure the youngest Nohrian princess would be good for at least one more dance. 

In the safety of the deserted, dimly lit hallway, Xander collapsed against a wall, laughing himself breathless. “Sakura….she….she planned that! She must have! Oh, the look on that butler’s _face_ when she….it was perfect!” 

“You know,” Ryoma responded, having recovered from his laughing fit slightly quicker than his new husband. “Now that I think about it, we wouldn’t have gotten here at all without help from all of our siblings.” 

“We were pretty dense at first,” Xander agreed. “We owe all of this to them.” 

“It took _Takumi _of all people to finally make us realize we were on a date.”__

____

____

___“Not to mention that time we practically traumatized Leo when he caught us kissing in the library.”_ _ _

___Xander’s deft fingers began unbuttoning his own wine-soaked shirt. Once he was finished, he raised the dripping garment to the sky in a mock toast, splattering drops of wine against the wall. “To our siblings!”_ _ _

___“To our siblings,” Ryoma agreed, “And to _you_. To _us_.” _ _ _

___In two quick steps, he crossed the distance between himself and Xander and hoisted his husband bodily into his arms. “Now come, my love, let us take full advantage of the opportunity which Sakura has provided us.”_ _ _

___Still laughing, still stopping every few feet to draw each other into increasingly passionate kisses, the two lovers practically danced down the hallway and into the first night of their blissful future._ _ _


End file.
